Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli insists the team is improving despite the club’s fifth place Premier League position. Spurs have won three straight league fixtures, but the team still sits outside the top four. Tottenham are currently four points behind Liverpool with a game to play.

Tottenham came second in the Premier League last season, but saw starting right-back Kyle Walker leave for Manchester City. The club was able to bring in several players during the summer, including £42 million signing Davinson Sanchez. However, the team hasn’t been able to find the same form as a year ago.

Tottenham Hotspur have already lost five matches this term, one more than all of 2016-17. Although the team is outside the Champions League places, midfielder Alli doesn’t believe Tottenham’s position is a true reflection on their season.

“At the start of the year, we wanted to win the league,” Alli said in an interview with Sky Sports. “It was important to show we were improving. Maybe if you look at the stats it’s different but, as a team, we’re still improving, we’re still learning about each other.

“Of course, we want to be in the top four but we can’t get too drawn into the league and the table and what teams are doing around us. We just have to focus on ourselves and try to win every game.”

Alli finished last term with 18 goals from 37 games. However, he started this campaign slowly, and has only tallied five goals in 20 Premier League matches. Some football fans have claimed Alli peaked too soon with Tottenham Hotspur. However, it looks more likely that Alli is settling in for another season similar to his debut year with the club. In that season, Alli tallied 10 Premier League goals.

“Every player has ups and downs; it’s impossible to stay at one level throughout your career,” Alli said when asked about his recent lack of goals. “I think I’m playing well.

“Of course, there have been games where I haven’t played as well as I would have liked but, overall, I don’t think there’s too much to worry about. I’ll keep working hard. I don’t want to be as good as I was last year; I want to be better.

“It’s important to stay confident; it’s easy for your confidence to drop when you’re not scoring goals, especially as an attacking player. People think if you’re not scoring or assisting, you’re playing badly but that’s not always the case.

“There’ve been times when I’ve scored two goals in a game and probably had one of my worst games! It’s frustrating when you’re missing but you have to keep working hard and getting in positions. I know the quality I have so it’s about showing it.”

Tottenham Hotspur host the relegation threatened West Ham on Thursday night before playing Wimbledon in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.